Falling Slowly

I woke up in a loud scream, sweat seeping out of every inch of my body on to my twin sized bed. My sister Rhiannon came running into my room, concern filling her face. "Another nightmare?" She asked, handing me a towel that laid next to my bed.

I nodded solemnly, my heart racing against my chest. She only shook her head and left my room, closing my door slightly behind her. Ever since we moved to La Push a few days ago, I've been having these horrible nightmares. I can't even describe the horror I feel every time I see the red eyes on the familiar face I couldn't quite make out and then .. I can't even describe it without getting chills.

I laid back down, closing my eyes praying that I wouldn't have to see that nightmare flashing by my mind again.



"AMANDA! BREAKFAST!" Groaning, I woke up and grabbed my outfit for the day. I hated the morning, but showers usually woke me up.

As I entered the kitchen, I sat down on a chair, and watched Rhiannon cook. "You do know that today is the first day of school?" She asked, flipping a pancake. I stared at her with wide eyes.

"You can't be serious?" I heard her laugh, which only made me glare at her through my now narrowed eyes.

"Of course I'm joking Mands. But you only have a week left until you do go back. I have your schedule and everything already, we just have to go and get your school supplies, which I have a list from the office. Don't roll your eyes at me." I groaned as I slammed my head down onto the kitchen table. I hated school, and I hated school shopping. Especially with Rhiannon, she was so picky with everything I wanted to get.

She smiled at me, but it quickly faded when she plopped down across from me. "What's wrong Rhi?" She only looked up from the table and shook her head. "Come on Rhiannon, tell me." I pleaded, she always got like this eventually and I hated it.

"I just miss back home, I miss mom and dad. I keep blaming myself for their .." I shook my head as she sighed, running her hand through her long blond hair.

I grabbed her hand and looked into her now teary brown eyes. "Rhiannon, it wasn't your fault. So stop blaming yourself. What happened was a totally chaotic incident, and nothing could have stopped it. There was a huge accident on the road, and mom and dad were just there at the wrong time. They would have wanted us to move away from Seattle, especially when all those killings were going on also." I hated having to be the responsible one in the family, when I was the younger sibling. She was two years older than me, which made her nineteen years old.

"I know Manda, it's just hard." She announced getting up, dropping my hand that was in hers. I sighed, she'd be better in a few minutes. She always had this guilt trip in the morning, but then was back to her original out going, annoying personality.



I watched some television a few hours after Rhiannon's guilt incident, while she jogged around the block a few times. We were supposed to go get the school supplies today, but I don't think we are anymore.

Sighing again, I heard the door creak open.

"Rhi?" I questioned, as I got up from the couch and walked into the living room doorway. I heard her mumble something from the front porch. "What?"

"While I was running, I tripped over this package," I noticed she had a rather large white envelope in her hands, "it's addressed to Billy Black. It's a few blocks away, about a 5 minute drive."

Furrowing my eyebrows together, I started to remember that name. Billy Black, where had I heard that name before?

"Rhiannon, why do I know that name?" She just looked over, smiled and then shook her head.

"He used to be a high school friend of mom's. This used to be the house she grew up in, when her mother died she gave the house to mom. So mom put my name for the next owner of it in her will. You actually met Billy and his son Jacob a few years ago at a Christmas party." I raised an eyebrow, I couldn't remember this party she was talking about. I shrugged my shoulders, and walked out of the house.

"Well, we should probably return that to Billy." I finally said entering our Ford Explorer. Rhiannon started the ignition, and started to drive away from the house that I hadn't left in nearly three days.

When we finally reached the Black's house, a feeling of nervousness rushed through my body. I hated going to a new area without knowing someone. You could say I was the type of girl that was shy and afraid of everything, which I wouldn't deny, because it was true.

Rhiannon knocked on the door three times before a man in a wheelchair answered the door. He scrutinized us for about a good ole minute, until he finally recognized who we were.

"Rhiannon, and Amanda Winters? How are you two?! Come on in! I'm sorry for the mess, Jacob has run off and hasn't returned in a few weeks. I haven't gotten around to picking up and cleaning everything." He announced, ashamed of how the house looked.

I started to remember him. I remembered how he used to always make my mom laugh, and how close he was to my father. My dad would always mention a Billy Black every so often, and then my mom would tell him to be quiet when he would start telling stories. I always got a weird vibe about Billy Black when my dad would talk about him. But looking at the man in the wheelchair, all I felt was sympathy.

"When I was walking today, I came across this. We decided that it was a good idea to return it to you, in case it was something important." Rhiannon said, showing him her pearly white smile.

He smiled back and offered us to sit down. "Mr. Black? Would you like me to help you clean up a bit until your son gets back?" I asked, trying to help out the old man a little bit. He just shook his head, but smiled and thanked me though.

The rest of the day was spent talking about Jacob and how he would be a junior, the same as I. While Billy and Rhiannon were talking about mom and dad, I zoned out looking through the window that was facing towards the forest. I saw a glimpse of a rather large creature run through the out skirts of the forest, I wanted to investigate, but that was when Rhiannon told Billy that we should head back home.

"You two should visit more often! We can share stories again!" I laughed and waved bye to Billy while Rhiannon started the ignition. She laughed, waved and then pulled away. I still had a smile plastered on my face when I saw the large creature sitting on its behind, watching the car drive away. I continued looking at it until it just became a blur in the distance.